Dancer to front TV show

When Kaea Pearce started dancing it was just something to do - now it is her whole life and has led the Northlander to co-host a new show on Maori Television.

The Whangarei dancer has performed with Jennifer Lopez, danced in Justin Bieber's Sorry music video, which has been viewed 1.6 billion times on YouTube, and she has danced all around the world. She also appeared in the movie Born to Dance.

Now, the 19-year-old's latest venture is co-hosting a youth-focused Maori Television show called Grid.

"Last year one of the directors called me and said that he wanted to do a show using my dance and it didn't go to plan because I went to Europe with the Royal Family [dance crew] halfway through the year.

"At the start of this year he contacted me and it's been pretty cool," she said.

Miss Pearce and her family moved to Auckland from Whangarei to be close to The Palace Dance studio, run by world-renowned choreographer Parris Goebel, when, at age 12, Miss Pearce successfully auditioned for one of the studio's dance crews.

"I thought [dance] was something to do when I was younger but it sort of became my whole life," she said.

The new show she co-hosts is aimed at teenagers and will feature hip-hop, dance, music and events and will see Miss Pearce showcase a series of dance routines, some she performs with her sister Ruth.

She is hosting the show alongside Moorhouse star Brock Ashby and LA-bound model Tim Kiriwi.

Miss Pearce said finding time to film was difficult.

"I would train every night. It [filming] has been really cool," she said "I hope it gets more teenagers watching Maori Television."

Miss Pearce not only appears on television through Grid, she also appears as one of the dancers in the new New Zealand Post advert.

"It was cool, we did quite a lot [of scenes for the ad].

"There is one massive one and then another one where I did a solo and another I did with two others.

"It was pretty random when we started choreographing, I didn't know what it was for and then Parris said NZ Post," she said.

- You can watch Grid on Maori Television on Wednesdays at 7pm.